The Life of Ariana Dumbledore
by SkepticUnicorn
Summary: Daddy was nice. Back when I was so tiny that our cat seemed bigger than me, my daddy used to read my stories when I went to bed. Sometimes, when it was raining outside, my older brothers Aberforth and Albus would come and listen, too. Oneshot.


**Here's a one-shot I wrote a few months ago. Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: Hi, I'm JK Rowling and I own Harry Potter. (Nose grows longer because that's a lie)**

* * *

Daddy was nice. Back when I was so tiny that our cat seemed bigger than me, my daddy used to read me stories when I went to bed. He told me of The Warlock's Hairy Heart and The Wizard of the Hopping Stump. My favorite bedtime story was Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump. That story always made me laugh.

Sometimes, when it was raining outside, my older brothers Aberforth and Albus would come and listen, too. Whenever that happened, Daddy would conjure a great big fire and he'd be over dramatic about everything. It was good. Aberforth, who was only a year older than me, would always insist on the Grumble the Grubby Goat. Albus would like The Tale of the Three Brothers.

During the day, I liked to go out for walks and explore. Mummy used to be concerned I'd break my neck, but Daddy reassured her. He told her I was a big girl and I could protect myself. Mummy said that was what she was afraid of.

I liked playing with sticks. Sometimes I would pretend they were magical wands like Daddy's and Mummy's. Sometimes Aberforth would come outside and build a great big stick fort with me, until Albus came in, claiming to be Mr. BigWhizz (a character of his own invention) and tore the place up. Then the three of us would have stick fights for the rest of the afternoon.

One time, Albus accidentally set our fort on fire, but it was out just as quickly as it started. Mummy said Albus had done accidental magic. She seemed very proud. I asked her when I would be able to do magic. She said, "Soon, sweetie, soon."

That "soon" came when I was 5. Mummy and Daddy were very proud of me. Not even Albus or Aberforth had done magic so young! One night I overheard Daddy whisper to Mummy, "She's going to be the brightest and most powerful witch of her age, I'll tell you that." I got excited. Was I really that good?

I started trying to do magic everywhere I could. I didn't get a wand, but I could still do some things. One time I made Aberforth accidentally float three feet high. He floated for a few seconds, torn between terror and glee. He came to the ground with a thud and looked like he was about to cry. Mummy scolded me, saying that was a very bad thing to do. I apologized, and she forgave me, since it was an accident.

One day, when I was six, I was out in my backyard, playing with some flowers. Mummy and Daddy were going to be out shopping, but Mummy gave me the flowers and told me to be a good girl until they got back.

At first, playing from the flowers involved waving them around and trying to see if I could smell them. But soon enough, I was doing my magic again. I made the stem grow really long, and the flower changed from white to red. I was about to run inside and show Daddy what I'd done, when these Muggle boys came into the backyard through the hedges

They looked a few years older than Albus, so at first I thought they were his friends. I remembered what Mummy said about being a good girl, so I was as polite as possible.

"Hello," I said, smiling. "Are you here to see Albus? I think he's—"

"What was tha' trick with them flowers, eh?" the taller one said. "Tha' flower was white jus' a minnud ago. What'd you do, eh?"

"Magic," I replied, because Mummy always told me not to lie.

"Don' be stupid," the blonde one said. "Magic ain't real. It's only in fairy tales."

"It is too real!" I shouted, feeling a little defensive. "Daddy's a wizard and Mummy's a witch, and Albus is going off to Hogwarts soon and soon he'll be a proper wizard, and he said he'll show me all the spells they teach him!"

The boys appeared bored. One of them, the one with the big nose, said, "Stop being just a stupid little kid and show us how you did it!"

"I can't," I stated, feeling a little scared. Mummy and Daddy always told me not to do magic in front of Muggles, because they couldn't, and only bad girls show off.

"Show us!" The short one demanded, and nervously, I nodded my head. I looked down at the flower and concentrated.

"First I — I — first.." I hesitated. What _had_ I done? I knew it was magic, because that was what everyone said, but I wasn't sure how to do it, really. I had just looked at the flower and imagined it long and red, and then that's what happened. I supposed it was just concentration, but with the boys staring at me, I was really scared and had trouble thinking.

"Looks like Little Miss Magic won't show us her tricks," the big nosed kid sneered, and suddenly the four of them were on me.

It hurt, and no matter how much I screamed, nobody came. Where was Albus? Aberforth? Mummy? Daddy? I was scared.

The hit me and kicked me from all directions and it hurt and suddenly all I wanted in the world was to die. All I could feel was pain, and I was choking on my tears. I lost track of what was going on, and everything seemed red, just like that horrible, horrible, evil flower...

* * *

"Where am I? Who are you?" I demanded to the creepy looking woman next to me. Her eyes were big and scary. I felt like she was ten miles high and about to step on me.

"I'm Mummy, Ariana," the woman said, in a low, dangerous voice. "Here, baby, drink this," she said, holding out a vile of suspicious white liquid.

"That's poison!" I screeched, hiding under my bedsheets. "Why are you trying to poison me? You're not my Mummy! You want to kill me! I knew it! Get away from me!"

I closed my eyes and wished she was gone. When I opened my eyes, the room was empty, except for the liquid. Suddenly everything seemed dark and I cried.

* * *

Years passed. I began to accept that the woman was my mother. But she still scared me. Everyone scared me.

One day, this boy was in my room. He said his name was Buford? Afrothor? He gave me milk and I drank it. I asked where my daddy was. He looked pained, and his response came out in stutters.

"He — he's — Azkaban — he's in Azkaban — he — Crucio — boys — you —"

I didn't know what "Azkaban" or "Crucio" meant, but I screamed. The words. His tone of voice. Everything was scary.

When I screamed, the window broke.

* * *

I was...12? That's what the boy told me. He didn't scare me anymore, not as much. His name was big and confusing, and I didn't like being confused, so I called him "Abber". He told me he was my brother and I asked him if that meant the scary woman with the big wet eyes was his mum, too, and he said yes. I screamed, because the big woman scared me. Abber grabbed a big slimy wet thing and dumped it on my forehead. It was wet and cold and calmed me down. It slid over my eyes, and I couldn't see. Things were less confusing when I couldn't see. I laughed.

* * *

There was another boy. I didn't see him as often. He looked like Abber. Whenever he saw me, he stared, and that made me cry. I didn't like being stared at. He was also big, like the scary woman. Abber told me not to be scared of the woman or the boy, (whose name was something like "Alice") but I still didn't like to see them.

One time, the tall boy said something about "have fun with the madwoman and the goats", and Abber started yelling. I didn't like it when people yelled, because it was loud and confusing. I screamed and cried and things got louder and louder and the tall boy laughed and the short boy yelled and I cried and screamed and the big scary mummy came in and started shouting too.

After everyone was gone, I started feeling better. Abber eventually came back in and I asked him what goats are. Abber realized that I was feeling better, so he led me out of bed and out of my room. He said he was going to show me.

The house was big. It didn't look familiar. The was a big orange flower. I didn't like flowers. This one reminded me of the red flowers that haunted my nightmares. I asked Abber to make it go away and he looked sad and said if he did, we'd freeze.

He asked me if I remembered the time I made him levitate. I was scared suddenly and said no. I had no idea what he was talking about.

He took me outside. I didn't like it outside. It was big and bright and there were hedges that people could hide behind. But I trusted Abber, so I followed him to the goats.

The goats were smelly, but I didn't mind. Abber gave me some stuff that felt weird. He told me how to feed the goats. That stuff must have been food. One of the goats tried to eat my shirt. My eyes widened and I got scared. Abber took me back to my room. But sometimes, when I was quiet, he let me feed the goats again.

* * *

One night, I wasn't hungry. I was full. I felt sick. My stomach hurt. The woman came into my room with food. I told her my stomach hurt.

"Eat this, it'll make you feel better."

"Is it poison?"

"No."

"I'm not hungry."

"Eat. Please, Ariana, eat."

"I'M NOT HUNGRY!" I shouted.

The woman looked scared. I didn't like that. Why was she scared? She was the one walking around making lots of noise.

I remembered all this, and screamed. Suddenly, everything was big and orange, like the orange fire in the middle of the house. I heard screams. Then I couldn't hear. I cried.

A while later, Abber told me that "Mummy" was dead. Even though the woman scared me, I cried. I cried all day. For some reason, her death hurt.

* * *

The tall boy, the one called "Albus" was back. And he was with the other tall boy again. They came over a lot. The talked, they laughed, they cheered. I didn't like it. By now, I understood that laughter was good and happy, but when those two laughed, I just felt scared.

Abber didn't seem to like them evil. He said they only cared about themselves, and were selfish, and very greedy. Abber was angry when he talked about them. I hated when people were angry.

I was out feeding the goats for Abber. I felt very responsible and surprisingly calm feeding them. I was happy that Abber could trust me with such a big job as this.

Suddenly, I heard yelling. It was the strange tall boy first, then I heard Abber, and then Albus. The three started yelling, and weird lights were coming from the house. I didn't know what was going on. I was scared, but I had a horrible feeling something terrible would happen if I didn't stop it. Abber could get hurt! Albus, too! I didn't want another person to die!

I ran inside, and there were the three boys. They were holding out their wands at each other. As I ran between the three to stop the fighting, I remembered back when I was young and me, Aberforth, and Albus would play with the sticks and imagine they were wands—

But before I could remember more, everything was gone.


End file.
